Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Yankees all but finished their International Free Agent spending spree yesterday when they signed Left hander Corby McCoy and left hander Luis Garcia out of Nicaragua. Corby McCoy, 16 years old, is considered one of the top talents out of Nicaragua. McCoy signed for a $150K contract which all but consumes the Yankees allotted budget for this season.

According to the new Collective Bargaining agreement a team can sign six players to an exempt contract of $50K and it not go against their budget or get hit with penalties because of it. Luis Garcia figures to be one of those six deals that the Yankees can make without the penalties for going over the cap.

McCoy is the exact definition of raw. He is considered athletic at 6'3" and 170 pounds and hits 91 mph but sits more comfortably in the 85-88 mph range. Garcia is also considered raw but projectible at 6'4" and 185 pounds. He also can tough the low 90's but sits more comfortably at the 85-88 mph range.

Tonight the Yankees will host the Tex Rangers for their second game in their four game set they have scheduled at Yankees stadium this week. On the mound for the Yankees will be arguably their best starter this season in Hiroki Kuroda. On the mound for the Texas Rangers will be easily their best starter Matt Harrison. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on MY9 and MLB Network.

I know I am a little behind on this news but a couple of rehabbing Yankees have had some news regarding their long toss routines and rehab.

Mariano Rivera was seen throwing long toss on Monday, 8/13, at Yankees Stadium while the Yankees hosted the Texas Rangers. He played long toss with , also injured Yankee, Alex Rodriguez. He said he felt fine the day after so that is always a good sign. The Yankees do not think he will be back this season, and neither do I, but there is always that glimmer of hope.

Andy Pettitte had another X Ray on his fractured ankle and everything is healing well. The Yankees are still eyeing a mid September return for the 40 year old lefty. Andy has not been given clearance to run or throw off of a mound yet but he has been given the OK to start a long toss program, as early as today.

Pedro Feliciano pitched in his second outing in his rehab assignment and threw a perfect inning. While pitching for the Yankees Gulf Coast League team he got two ground balls and struck out one batter while walking none. No reports on pitch count or velocity but if the velocity were down I am sure we would have heard something by now. All looks good for a September return for Feliciano.

Everyone on twitter was almost making fun of the Brian Cashman signing of veteran sinker baller Derek Lowe, myself included, but he made us all look foolish if only for a night. Lowe pitched four innings of shut out baseball and got the save in an 8-2 Yankees victory. Unfortunately, no, he did not untuck his shirt when he got the save but maybe next time.

As all of our fans knows I am a huge fan of Hiroki Kuroda. I even pointed out in one of my post how stats are either comparable or better then our ace CC Sabathia. Kuroda is showing that not only can a National League pitcher come to the American League and be just as good, if not better, but also that a Japanese pitcher can in fact be productive in America. Kuroda is a steal on a one year deal and only $10 million deal that he signed this offseason. Let us look at his stats for this season thus far:

10 - 8 Win/Loss Record

150 IP

6.96 K/9

0.96 HR/9

78.1% LOB %

50.7% GB %

3.24 ERA

3.76 FIP

2.9 WAR

1 CG

1 SHO

1.19 WHIP

.250 BAA

I want to thank Hiroki Kuroda for being a much better pitcher then his win and loss record shows, for keeping our head above water when everyone else was struggling and CC was out, and for going out there every 5th day and giving it his all. I know you will not understand this when you read it Hiroki but thank you for being a Yankee. Now let us go get a ring!!